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| Its very hard to admit this, especially when you have a Ford Mustang yourself, but out of the factory they handle horribly. However, after what I have done to my suspension, it handles amazingly. I would dare say that it handles as well as my wife's Ford Focus SVT. What are the reasons for the horrible handling? The main reasons are that the steering has so much play in it and the geometry of the steering can never be corrected because the upper control arms are 1" too high (something that Shelby actually changed on his cars way back when). I've had my steering box rebuilt a few times, which is very costly and that would never get rid of all of the play. After a few months, the car would go back to sloppy as hell anyways. Also, the upper and lower control arms are made of low grade/thin metal, so there is a lot of flexing. Doing a Suspension/Steering upgrade is WELL worth the money. Well, OKAY. I'm going to have to scratch what I wrote previously about my suspension in regards to coilover kits! Here is what I wrote: For the first 5000 miles, the above is true. However, then the bushings already start to wear out and steering goes back to very sloppy once again! Here is a picture of what happened to one of my lower control arms: I realize that just about every car's suspension has bushings, so this is probably an uncommon occurrence for a bushing to just break. However, what I looked for in a replacement suspension was minimal bushings, or if possible, no bushings at all. I decided to take a second look at the coilover route. It is so frustrating to drive a car that you have done everything possible to and still have it drive horribly / all over the place. Just about all coilover kits still have bushings somewhere. That is just about all, but one that I found... I went back to the company that supplied me with my subframe connectors that fit perfectly under the car, Chris Alston's Chassisworks / Total Control Products. They make a coilover kit that is all BEARINGS and NO BUSHINGS! The kit is really just plain sexy... Here are Some Comparative Pictures:
Picture of Engine Compartment with no shock towers anymore: Here is a summary of my Steering/Suspension components: Flaming River Rack and Pinion with Polished Steering Column I ordered this kit through Summit Racing. Summit has always been a reliable/professional resource for high performance parts for me. Summit Racing part number: FLA-30065MUHRPL I went ahead and bought the the manual set-up. The manual turns easy enough and you really do not need the extra power assisted BS. Also, when checking the forums, there are a few issues with the power steering set-ups. Personally, I try to keep as little 'Power' components/options as possible to make my car more reliable and there is less hassle/maintenance involved anyways. Plus 'Power' components rob horsepower, right? The manual rack and pinion assembly sits snugly on the frame and bolts up perfectly! Just remember to turn the assembly the correct way before drilling holes. I was a dummy and had it oriented the wrong way at first. Also, you should weld it bosses for the insides of the frame rails to prevent any bending that may occur. The column is really cool as well. First and more importantly is because it is Chrome. It also has a really neat tilt column feature. One pain that was encountered during installation was getting the horn to work, but the wiring was eventually figured out. Marlo's Frame and Alignment Rear Sway Bar Kit Overall I guess that it gets the job done. I would have liked higher grade steel components. The end links, especially where the bushings are located, are low grade steel and bend fairly easily. However it looks like this is still the best kit out there if keeping the leaf spring set-up. Plus I put in custom front to back 3" exhaust and anything else would definitely cause some tolerance issues. Competition Engineering Slide-A-Link Traction Bars These are adjustable for Street (have
mine set on Street), Track, and Drag. They are heavy duty and include all
Grade 8 Nuts/Bolts/Washers. They bolted right in for me. Pictures of the Driver's and Passenger's
Sides: Total Control Products / VariShock QuickSet 2 Shocks After seeing how nicely these help the handling on the front, I decided to get a set for the rear as well. I like the QuickSet 2, because you can adjust both the Bump (compression) and Rebound (extension) separately. I used 5 'clicks' for the Bump and 3 'clicks' for the Rebound on both the front and rear sets. Here is of a picture of the rear pair
installed: Control Freak / Blue Moon Motorsports Vs. Chris Alston's Chassisworks / Total Control Products It is a crying shame that the Control Freak Upper and Lower Control Arm Kit did not work out right. Al Kamhi of Blue Moon Motorsports is very helpful, knowledgeable, and customer friendly. Having said this, Total Control Products just plain offer a superior product. This is also a shame, because when you try to call them on the phone, you almost always have to leave a message (which is hardly ever returned). When you do reach someone, you almost have to beg them to sell you something (it is quite odd). On eMail, you have to contact them multiple times before getting a one line response. The engineering is so amazing on their products though, that you just have to buy from them. The quality is just so great, that you just have no choice but to get past the service. Whatever your choice both options are a vast improvement over the stock rubber and low grade/thin metal pieces of junk that the car originally was supplied with. OH, you have an all original Mustang/Shelby! Seriously, no thanks... Chris Alston's Chassisworks / Total Control Products Supplied Alignment
Specifications: Installed Chris Alston's Chassisworks / Total Control Products Subframe
Connectors, Part Number: PKG-SFC-02: |
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